Upgrade Laptop Hard Drive to SSD

upgrade-laptop-hard-drive-to-ssd

We often get asked ‘How to upgrade laptop hard drive to SSD?’ Well, it’s not simple but a complex procedure. You will need to find a compatible drive first, swap the drive and transfer the applications.

Many common desktop computers, laptops, and workstations today come with a hard drive.  Hard drives are used to store data permanently within the computer. This is where it remains until the computer user chooses to delete or overwrite it.

People who run multiple programs at once may find that their hard drive has begun to fill up as they have created more files. In this situation, an upgrade of the hard drive may be needed for the system to run smoothly again.  In some cases, those who want their system to perform better will choose to replace their current hard drive with a solid-state drive (SSD).

Why replace a laptop’s HDD?

The most common reason why people choose to swap out their laptop’s hard drive for an SSD is that speed of the device will improve dramatically.  SSDs are much faster than HDs, making it easy to install an OS on them and open programs. While some might argue that it is not worth spending money on a new hard drive when they can simply buy more RAM instead, upgrading your hard drive to an SSD does not need any extra components.

The only thing you will need in addition to this upgrade is preparatory work before beginning the physical installation of the new hard drive. This includes backing up all data from the computer, opening the case using specialist tools and placing each part in its correct position within the machine.

Pros and cons of upgrading laptop’s hard drive to SSD

Before looking at how this process works in detail, let us first take a look at the pros and cons.

Pros

The good thing about installing an SSD is that it offers faster boot up time, faster data processing speeds and more space for the same price as a traditional hard disk drive (HDD). It also uses less energy than older HDDs because there are no moving parts – which means that users will experience reduced noise levels while using their laptops.

Cons

However, while you can use any type of SSD in your computer once you have upgraded to this hardware, not all computers can support them. This means that if your laptop does not support SATA connections or only has limited room within its chassis for another component to be installed, then it may not support an upgrade.

Another downside of this operation is the amount of work involved; transferring all data from the original hard drive to the SSD is not as simple as connecting one device to another and dragging files across. The process of installing an SSD takes time because you have to make sure that every file is properly copied before you remove it from your computer. Be warned, any mistake here could result in loss of data .

slow-laptop

Common SSDs in the market

  1. Adata
  2. Samsung
  3. Plextor
  4. Kingston
  5. SanDisk
  6. PNY
  7. Intel
  8. Crucial

What is the best SSD in the market?

Samsung – hands down.

Why are consumers upgrading to SSDs?

SSD drives are becoming more and more common in personal computers. With their quick access speeds, low power consumption, silence, durability and slim profile they are replacing the conventional Hard Disk Drives (HDD’s) at an increasing rate. This is mainly because the price of SSD drives has come down significantly over the years while their features have improved faster than HDDs ever did. If you own a laptop that had its HDD replaced with an SSD some time ago or plan to upgrade your current HDD to an SSD then this article is for you.

Before you even start thinking about swapping out your old hard disk drive it is advisable that you back up all your important data somewhere else like on DVDs or external USB hard disks just in case something goes wrong during the course of replacement.

When you buy a laptop equipped with an SSD, typically its operating system and all items which are pre-installed in it by the manufacturer such as multimedia player apps, antivirus programs, and office suites come installed on the SSD itself for better performance. This is not often practical if your system came with just 20GB inbuilt and you have to install applications in addition to the essential OS and utility programs. In such cases, you can either replace your old HDD completely or add a new secondary drive to your laptop so that you can segregate your software installations between both drives. The latter option will help in two ways: one, it will prevent filling up your smaller capacity (and) SSD from excessive use; second, you will not have to worry about the space crunch that would certainly hinder the performance of your system.

When is it time to upgrade laptop hard drive to ssd?

Obvious signs that it’s time to upgrade laptop hard drive to SSD:

  • Slow boot times: HDD takes much longer than an SSD during boot up and shuts down.
  • Slow read and write speeds: If you find a considerable drop in transfer rates when copying large amounts of data between partitions, there’s a good chance your HDD is slowing you down. Many people ignore such warning signs, but if left unheeded it can result in complete loss of data stored on either drive (and) even render the old drive unusable due to excessive reading and writing (and) overheating. This can happen if multiple programs try accessing files at the same time.
  • Frequent disconnections: This is a very common occurrence, especially on laptops where the drive’s connector cable tends to get frequently pulled.
  • Drive freezes or crashes unexpectedly: A sudden freeze or crash of a disk usually indicates that it has become corrupted and needs to be reformatted before data can be accessed again. For example, you may see lines across your screen as Windows seeks to refresh its display of files stored on the drive. Or if an application hangs during startup, it often occurs due to some problem with the drive. In such cases, immediate reformatting becomes necessary to prevent further damage of the storage media which will lead (to) loss of data (and) avoidable downtime in case you need crucial information stored on the drive.
  • If you start getting warnings about impending failure of your laptop’s hard disks, it makes sense to act sooner than later and upgrade the disk(s) for reliability and performance improvement before they become completely unusable (and) fail completely.

If you are looking for a upgrade or SSD replacement, get in touch with a laptop repair technician.

Author:
I am a computer engineer holding a bachelor's degree in Computer Science, complemented by a Master's in Business Administration from University of Strathclyde, Scotland. I currently work as a Senior IT Consultant in Melbourne, Australia. With over 15 years of...